Method and apparatus for manufacturing trim panels including several trim components

Abstract

In a method of manufacturing trim panels which are made of several trim components or trim materials, such as door trim panels of automobiles, the trim panel is essentially finished in a single work operation in one work station. A vinyl cover film (12) is formed, trim inserts (10, 11) are laminated onto the cover film with the aid of a nesting die (8a, 8b), soft touch inserts (26) are laminated underneath the cover film and the so produced laminate is further laminated onto a rigid substrate (2 or 2'). The substrate may be a prefabricated substrate (2), or may be a rigid foam substrate (2') back-foamed onto the formed vinyl film (12). An apparatus for carrying out the method is essentially a forming station with an upper form or mold (1) and a lower form or mold (15). The lower mold (15) includes nest dies (8a, 8b) for securely holding and then pressure laminating the trim inserts (10, 11), whereby a high placement precision of the inserts (10, 11) is achieved. The present method and apparatus are simpler, faster, and less labor-intensive and achieve better results than prior methods and apparatus in the art.

What we claim is: 
     
       1. A method for manufacturing a trim panel in a mold having a first mold section (15) and a second mold section (1), said trim panel including at least one trim insert as part of the finished trim panel, comprising the following steps; (a) positioning a cover skin layer (12) between said first mold section (15) and said second mold section (1), said cover skin layer (12) being made of a material suitable for forming said trim panel into a three-dimensional shape in said mold, said cover skin layer having a front surface and a rear surface, said first mold section (15) facing said front surface and said second mold section (1) facing said rear surface of said cover skin layer (12),   (b) forming at least one nesting cavity (8c, 8d) in one of said mold sections by moving a nesting die (8a, 8b) in said nesting cavity relative to said one mold section so that a surface of said nesting die is withdrawn relative to a mold surface of said one mold section to form said nesting cavity.   (c) locating said at least one trim insert (10, 11) into said nesting cavity which positively holds said trim insert (10, 11) against lateral displacement in said nesting cavity,   (d) contacting said at least one trim insert with said cover skin layer by closing said first and second mold sections into a closed mold position, and   (e) moving said nesting die independently of said one mold section (15) toward the other mold section (1) for pressing said trim insert against said cover skin layer.   
     
     
       2. The method of claim 1, further comprising securing a substrate to said rear surface of said cover skin layer. 
     
     
       3. The method of claim 2, further comprising prefabricating said substrate as a rigid substrate, inserting said prefabricated rigid substrate (2) into said second mold section (1) prior to closing said mold, and then laminating said rigid substrate to said rear surface of said cover skin layer. 
     
     
       4. The method of claim 2, wherein said securing of said substrate is performed by back-foaming a curable foam onto said rear surface of said cover skin layer, and curing said curable foams thereby bonding said rear surface of said cover skin layer to said substrate. 
     
     
       5. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying an adhesive between said trim insert and said front surface of said cover skin layer. 
     
     
       6. The method of claim 5, comprising selecting said adhesive as a heat sensitive adhesive, and applying sufficient heat for activating said heat sensitive adhesive to bond said trim insert to said cover skin layer.